Vertical blow unit heater



VERTICAL BLOW UNIT HEATER Filed Aug. 14, 1941 l Ill mi L --In u" :illllllllllllllllllllllllln Patented F eb.27, 1945 VERTICAL BLOW UNIT HEATER William H. Miller, Toledo, Ohio Application August 14, 1941, Serial No. 406,859

2 Claims. (013126-110) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Governmentl for governmental purposes Without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a vertical blow unit heater and more especially one that is gas-fired.

An object of this invention is t o provide a heater that is compact and so designed that it can be suspended from a. ceiling or roof and so constructed that the heated air is blown downward toward the floor.

Another object of the invention is to improve the distribution of heated air within an area or space so that a broader spread of heated iioor area or space is obtained while at the same time eliminating the stratied air at the ceiling.

Another object of the invention is to produce a heater that will draw down the warm air at the ceiling through the heater, and reheat and recirculate the air within the area or space for which the heater is intended.

Another object of the invention is to produce a design of heater that is simple, effective and compact and one which will provide more effective heating of air within a' designated area or space.

The invention produces a design of heater that spreads the heated air over an evenly distributed area providing a greater volume of heated air at a lower velocity. The heated air, as it leaves the unit and emerges at a high velocity due to the fan being placed within a restricted area, spreads in a cone-shaped manner, increasing in volume as it travels downward and during the descent decreases in velocity.

While the invention incorporates an assembly of parts which are conventional in any style of gas-fired unit heater, they are so arranged as to accomplish. the objects previously pointed out which are not found ln any known conventional type of unit heater.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view the invention consists of vfeatures of construction, arrangement and operation of parts which will appear in the speciiication and be finally pointed out in the claims. f'

While a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, it will be understood that slight changes in form and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and fall beyond the scope of the claims.

Referring now to the drawing, in which similar characters and references in the several figures indicate identical parts:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View partly broken away of an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a reduced View of the shell.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a unit heater I0 comprising a sheet metal cabinet; II adapted to be suitably suspended from the ceiling of a room or other building structure. A iiared opening I2 is provided at the bottom of the cabinet II for the ernmission of heated air, and an opening I3 is provided at the top of cabinet I l for the entrance of the circulated air within the room. Near the bottom of the cabinet II there are provided a series of openings I4 for the purpose of entraining primary and secondary air for combustion as well as for circulation of air about the heating element I5, heating tubes I6, combustion chamber Il and flue collecting chamber I8 which are al1 substantially contained and mounted within the cabinet II.

A suitable grill'cover I9 is provided for the opening I3 of the cabinet II. A fan 20 driven by a motor 2|, is mounted on the grill cover I9 in such a manner that the fan and the grill can be removed as a unit. The fan is positioned within the cabinetI to force the circulation of the air as described, and the motor is positioned at the top of the unit so that it is out of the path of the heated air and the shaft of the fan is placed so that the fan falls below theheating tubes.

A safety pilot 22 located in the lower portion of the combustion chamber Il near the heating element I5 prevents the heater from being extinguished and together with gas valve 23 and pressure reducing regulator 24 there is provided a heater which is safe and easy to regulate. Other devices may be added if necessary to incorporate other control and safety features that may be required in the locality where the device is proposed to be used but are not required to be added since the device as described is safe and will properly function under all conditions.

The nue collecting chamber I8 has a self-contained back draft divertor 29 and the bottom is provided with an opening 25 for the purpose of diverting any back draft. Also connected to the chamber I8 is a flue outlet 26 adapted to exhaust all odors of combustion originating in the com bustion chamber Il. The ue outlet as shown is in a. horizontal position; however, where conditions permit, the nue outlet may be carried from the top of the unit. The gas inlet 28 to the heat chamber may also lbe positioned to the best advantage.

Within the cylinder II there is provided a shell 21, which is square or rectangular at the top and round at the bottom, the change in shape taking place at a level immediately above the fan 20. The shell 21 extends from the top of the cylinder to the bottom thereof and heating tubes I6 are connected to the shell 21 in a position intermediate to the open grill I9 and the circulating fan 20, thereby forming passageways for circulating the heated air within the cylinder ll. As stated, the

unit may be suspended reasonably close to the` ceiling or roof, by any suitable means, but enough distance should be provided between the, unit and the ceiling to permit entrance of. a sucient amount of air for recirculation.

It is thought that persons "skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description. in connection with .the drawing. Therefore, it is regarded as unneces-l sary to go into a lengthy description of the operation of the device.

The invention, however, is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since these may be modied within' the 'scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as Anew and desired to secure by `Letters Patent is:

l. vAn air-heating apparatus, 'comprising acabinet having an open grill-'covered top, and a iiared o pen lower end, .a combustion chamber within said cabinet, a flue collector chamber within said cabinet, a back draft divertor Within said flue collecting chamber, heating tubes connecting said combustion chamber and said flue collecting chamber, a burner in the lower end of said combustion chamber, circular openings positioned near the bottom of the cabinet, adapted 'to entrain primary and secondary air to aid combustion and a fan in said cabinet below the heating tubes for drawing the air through the opening in the top over the heating tubes and discharging it through the bottom.

2. An air-heating apparatus, comprising a cabinet having an open'grill-covered top and a iiared open lower end, a combustion chamber within said cabinet, a iiue collecting chamber within said cabinet, a back draft divertor within said iiue collecting chamber, heating tubes connecting said combustion chamber and said iiue collecting chamber, a burner in the lower end of said com bustion chamber, circular openings positioned near the bottom of the cabinet, adapted to entrain primary and secondary air to aid combustion, a motor mounted on said open grill in such a manner that said grill and said motor can be removed as a unit and a fan in said cabinet; positioned below the heating tubes and adapted to be rotated bysaid motor for drawing the air through the opening in the top over the heating tubes an H. MILLER. 

